Monsters Vs Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins From Outer Space

30th October 2012

By Robert Mann.

Monsters Vs Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins From Outer Space (DVD review) ***½

Last Easter the DreamWorks Animation film Monsters Vs Aliens was released in cinemas in all its superb 3D glory and swiftly became this critic’s personal favourite out of all the films by the animation studio for its incredible 3D effects are more importantly its action and its sense of humour, with the premise – an alien invasion force is threatening Earth and the only people who can stop them are the most unlikely of heroes, the monsters – allowing for some breathtakingly exciting sequences and a very zany sense of humour quite different to what we are used to seeing in films released by the studio. Sadly, however, while the film proved very popular at the both the US and UK box office, the rest of the world wasn’t nearly as receptive, the international box office numbers being strong but evidently not enough in the eyes of the studio for them to greenlight a sequel…sob. Fortunately, however, the brand has proved popular enough that they have at least given us this Halloween special – Monsters Vs Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins From Outer Space, which is now available on DVD, although annoyingly only at TESCO. But as a made for TV movie rather than a fully fledged sequel, does this prove more trick or treat?

Susan Murphy a.k.a. Ginormica (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) and the Monsters – B.OB. (voiced by Seth Rogen), Dr. Cockroach Ph.D. (voiced by Hugh Laurie), The Missing Link (voiced by Will Arnett) and Insectosaurus – are now working with the US government as special ops under the command of General W.R. Monger (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland). So when an alien presence is detected in Susan’s hometown of Modesto, California – right before Halloween – the team is dispatched to investigate. Everything appears normal, right down to the jack-o-lanterns peering out from every doorstep and windowsill. But when Halloween arrives, those innocent-looking carved pumpkins reveal themselves for what they really are – mutant aliens. Led by the biggest pumpkin of them all, Wicked Jack (voiced by Rainn Wilson), the altered pumpkins then start to implement their fiendish plan to take over Earth one piece of candy at a time. The Monsters are there to combat the mutant gourds and try to smash their wicked scheme!

Considering that Monsters Vs Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins From Outer Space is a made for TV movie rather than an actual sequel, it’s actually quite impressive that they’ve managed to bring back all the original stars to voice their characters once again, something that really means a lot for the quality of this short 20 minute special. Once again, the voices are of excellent quality, everyone bringing their characters to life with their own distinct personalities. Of course, however, this being a made for TV film, not everything lives up to the original film. The animation obviously is not of the standard seen in the movie but this is entirely forgivable as it is still of a very high standard and even betters a certain animated feature in cinemas right now.

The story is also very slight but largely sufficient for such a short film. The humour also doesn’t live up to the movie, there not being as much for older viewers to enjoy here, this film being aimed more exclusively at kids, for whom the pun related humour and physical gags will be far more enjoyable. Nonetheless, a couple of gags still retain the smarter edge of the movie, in particular one involving the ‘Halloween’ theme tune. So,Monsters Vs Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins From Outer Space will seem slightly disappointing to anyone looking for a sequel to the original movie but for kids it will make for a very entertaining 20 minutes. A treat is definitely what this film is, just about.

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